MickyB

How do you play this double? I believe that it is standard for the double to be for penalties, as pard has shown the suit - same as if 3rd seat had bid 1S. My pard is advocating it being takeout - over here, 2♦ is normally forcing (GF opposite a strong NT), and the risk of being taken in by a diamond psyche seems much smaller. What do you all reckon? How might it affect other, similar auctions?

Wouldn't dream of it. Anyway, it is obvious to open 1♣.

I too prefer to rebid 1NT without four card support, at least at IMPs - for it to make more than an IMP difference you need to take two more tricks in 2M than you could have in 1NT. Like Gerben and Fluffy, I've never rea There's probably more reason to raise 2♠ on three cards than to 2♥ - pard is more likely to have 5, and there are more rebid problems over 1C:1S that might encourage you to bid NT with a singleton.

Right, I've found the book now. I agree with what you say, but I feel that the author should have explained the difference between information you discover yourself and information the opponents give you; and if he didn't want to get into that, he should at least not have used hands like this as examples. Still, it is well worth a read.

Sorry, I managed to write completely the opposite of what I meant then! Obviously, it should have said that he suggested playing the PARTNER of the opening leader for the Q♣ because he would have FEWER diamonds :ph34r:

In general it is a very good book, but some of the stuff on vacant spaces is wrong. Have a look at this thread - the book recommended playing the opening leader for the Q♣ because he would have less diamonds. Edit: that should have said "opening leader's partner"

According to Swan, Egypt gained 12 IMPs on the last board to make it 15-15. Still, another decent result.

Answer below (I hope)

It matters less when opener is limited, but I prefer to give opener as much chance as possible to bid again, therefore I have a 2C rebid promise longer diamonds, encouraging responder to give false preference.

Short club, transfer responses... 1C then complete the transfer = 11-13 1N = 14-16 1C then 1N = 17-20 2N = 21-22 Currently I open all 11-13 bals 1C so 1D:1M, 1N is artificial, but am wondering if weak NTs with 4 diamonds should open 1D instead. Either way, we get 1m:1M, 3m to be a normal jump rebid but with 3 card support, and 1m:1M, 2N to be a normal 3m rebid without three card support OR stronger - ie a GF single suiter.

Yes, that was an awesome set. Using a 1N rebid as a naturalish maximum sounds reasonable.

They then beat Japan, who were 8th at the time! Sorry to be so harsh, but here's hoping their good form deserts them before Saturday morning when they play England. That England-Sweden final match could be an important one...

Wow, thought this would be a unanimous pass. Have been thinking that if I'm not going to balance light as an unpassed hand I should get in more in direct seat, this gives me some confidence to do it, thx :)

If you are bidding 2♥ on 4153s then you aren't showing pard Kx by bidding 2♥ now! Or can he work it out later, for example when you bid NT? I think this is quite interesting. 6♦4♠ doesn't strike me as being terribly frequent either - I'd expect 2N and 3N to be the most frequent responses, but I guess you have described your hand pretty well by then, and it is often useful to be bidding NT so you don't have to worry later about right-siding it. If you play that 4th suit forcing doesn't promise a rebid, then one advantage of bidding 2♦ on these 4153s is that it will frequently be the right place to play.

On BBF, when there is only one hand posted in a diagram it is the South hand. Like everyone else, I pass.

I disagree that 1♠ showing 5♦ implies that 2♦ shows a 6th. You need to have a bid to make when you have no extra shape and no stop in the 4th suit - you've picked 2♥ for this, which is fine, but I don't think that it is obviously inferior to use 2♦ instead, particularly when it is the cheapest bid. Obviously the situation is in no way analogous, but it reminds me of auctions like 1♥:2♦, 2♥. Many Acol players would expect that to show a 6th heart when playing 5 card majors - why else would you bid them again?

What would your third bid be with 4153/4252 and no club stop?

Certainly Ben, I wasn't saying that natural systems would do better than Riton in this situation; We were saying that Riton wouldn't gain in this situation, unlike if the auction had started 1S:1N, 2C or 1S:1N, 2D.

Oh yes, another thing - I suspect that Riton/Gazilli 2♣ are more useful after a 1♠ opener than a 1♥ opener, because in the former case you - Gain on an extra sequence (1S:1N, 2H) Don't have two ways of raising opener's minor (as you do with 1H:1N, 2C:2S)

I don't think there's any need to clean up 5-card major opening bids. They are already very clean. Try telling Marc Lee that <_< Ok, I think you are right, maybe Gazilli (sp) is worth another look - after all, it isn't really the opening that needs "cleaning", it is the 1NT response! Certainly I think that the inferences from not rebidding 2♣ sound pretty useful.

Yes, he does, I think Mark misunderstood an ambiguity in your original post.

Probably a multi, as you have no other way of showing a weak two.

I agree with your first point, but it would probably be necessary to open 2♥ with 6♥4♠ which gives back some of the advantage. I guess you are right about competitive auctions being more significant. I think that denying 4 spades if minimum is quite a useful inference in competition, denying 4 clubs if minimum maybe less so. When you mention the 101 things that you'd rather use these bids for - are these all destructive, or are some of them with the aim of cleaning up the 1 level openings?

Was just lying in bed, and a thought struck me :) For those who don't know, Riton 2♣ is the use of 1M:1N, 2C (and, I believe, 1H:1S, 2C) as showing any 16+ hand. To free up the 2♣ bid, the 2M openings show 5 cards in that suit and 4+ clubs, 12-15 or so. Hows about... Replacing the 2♥ opener with Flannery (ok don't condemn it just yet ;) ) Bringing in Kaplan Inversion Using 1♥:1♠, 1N to show the 16+ hand Plus points: You have an extra step when opener is strong The follow-ups could probably be more similar to those after 1♠:1N, 2♣ - you have the same amount of space below two of opener's major, which should be a common place to escape to 1♥:1♠, 2♣ is nice - opener is limited so you can frequently stop in 2♣ instead of having the auction 2♥:3♣, P Responder can show 5 spades immediately with 1♥:1N Minus points: 5♥332s - you have to rebid a three card minor Opener doesn't have a 16+ bid after 1♥:1N It is only at an early stage of planning...but any thoughts?